Just World Books Podcasts

In this special presentation for Just World Educational's Iran Crisis series, Helena Cobban, the president of Just World Ed, delivered a pre-recorded talk for the Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center conference in Orinda, California, on April 25th. Unable to attend in person and having to record her remarks more than 24 hours before they would be delivered, she chose to take a long historical view of the crisis by tracing the Strait of Hormuz across 5,000 years of human history. She traced Hormuz's  origins as a key node connecting the formative ancient civilizations in the Indus Valley and Mesopotamian, and as a central artery in the vast Indian Ocean trading zone that once stretched from East Africa to China. She described that pre-European world as a thriving, self-governed commercial network with its own norms and technologies, drawing on the work of historian Janet Abu-Lughod. She then walked through the entry of five European imperial powers into that world: Portugal, Spain, England, the Neth

On the evening of April 23, JWE president Helena Cobban sat down with Dr. Moeed Pirzada,  a prominent Pakistani journalist based in Washington, D.C. and founder-editor of Global Village Space magazine. Together they examined the rapidly shifting situation around the U.S.-Iran conflict, Pakistan's role as a mediator, and the broader geopolitical realignments taking place across West Asia and beyond.This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

On the day before the current two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is due to end, the veteran scholar of Iranian and international affairs Trita Parsi sat down with JWE president Helena Cobban to review the prospects for war or peace in West Asia. This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

In this April 17 conversation, JWE president Helena Cobban and the veteran Palestinian political analyst Mouin Rabbani discussed the implications, for West Asia and the world, of some of Pres. Trump's crucial recent decisions regarding the ongoing crisis over Iran. Rabbani reviewed, in particular, the decision Trump took mid-week to publicly pressure Israel to accede to a ceasefire in Lebanon, which it had previously refused to do. He also explored what that decision, and Israel's speedy compliance with it, tells us about the nature of the U.S.-Israeli relationship.Cobban and Rabbani also reviewed (among other topics): the history of the U.S. relationship since the beginning of the longer crisis sparked by Hamas's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood of October 2023,the prospects for the peace negotiations that were tentatively launched April 10-11 in Islamabad, Pakistan,the implications of the current U.S.-Iran and Israel-Lebanon ceasefires for the Palestinians of Gaza, and the big changes for the situatio

In this April 12 conversation, JWE president Helena Cobban discussed with Prof. Rami Zurayk the impact on Lebanon of the violence that Israel has unleashed against the country for many months now. (Israel escalated that violence very notably on April 8, the day when it looked as if Washington was finally ready to sit down and negotiate a serious ceasefire with Iran.)Rami Zurayk is a researcher on ecological affairs and a social activist with deep family roots in South Lebanon. In 2011, Just World Books published War Diary: Lebanon 2006,  his short, engaging account of what he experienced during the very destructive invasion of Lebanon that Israel undertook in 2006.This conversation was the twelfth in Just World Educational's ongoing series on the Iran Crisis/War. Find all the records of this project here.Support the show

In a week that started with Pres. Trump's outrageous genocidal threats against Iran, then saw him apparently agree to a ceasefire while Israel unleashed a torrent of violence against Lebanon... JWE president Helena Cobban was happy to be able to assess the broader impact of these events with Sri Lankan analyst Indi Samarajiva. Indi's main writing platform is indi.ca.This was latest episode in our continuing series on the Iran Crisis. Find the multimedia records of this episode and all its others at this Online Learning Hub on our website.Support the show

In this April 1 conversation with JWE president Helena Cobban, Amb. Chas W. Freeman, Jr., discussed the impact and relevance of the 5-point peace initiative for the Iran conflict that China and Pakistan jointly announced on March 31.You can find more background about Amb. Freeman and about this new peace initiative at this post on JWE's Substack.Support the show

In this March 24 convo with Helena Cobban, Vijay Prashad, the director Tricontinental, drew on his extensive experience of the affairs of the Global South to assess the extent and roots of Iran's achievements in resisting the attack that the U.S.-Israeli alliance started on February 28. Prashad and Cobban also discussed the ties between Iran's achievements in their war against the alliance and the prospects for the movements in Gaza, the rest of Palestine, and Lebanon that are also facing fierce onslaughts from the alliance, and the impacts of this war on the global balance more generally. This conversation is the ninth in JWE's ongoing "Iran Crisis" series, which is a follow-on to the "Gaza, and the World" project that we launched in Fall 2025. The multimedia records of all the conversations in this series can be found at this portal page on our website.Check back at our website www.justworldeducational.org, or with our Substack justworlded.substack.org for other news of th

In this March 20 talk, Just World Ed president Helena Cobban assessed the current state of the Israeli-US War on Iran at  Day 21, and lessons that antiwar activists-- particularly those in the United States-- should take from what has happened until now. She focused on: the depravity of the rampages Israel has been committing in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon in addition, to those in Iranthe intense degree to which the U.S. military and government are actively complicit in all of Israel's rampages, including those regarding which Pres. Trump has expressed some mild (or even joking) reservationsthe impotence of the United Nations regarding Palestine, Lebanon, and the globe-wide economic crisis sparked by the warthe responsibility of U.S. citizens to take concrete actions to end the war and to build a sustainable peace-- including by pulling all U.S. military bases out of the Gulf.This conversation is the eighth in JWE's ongoing "Iran Crisis" series, which is a follow-on to the "Gaza,

In this March 5 convo with Helena Cobban, longtime Iran specialist Barbara Slavin noted the survival of Iran's central governance structures even after the early assassination by the Israeli and U.S. war machine of the Supreme Leader and numerous other figures in the country's military and political leadership, and surmised that its government is not likely soon either to crumble or to "capitulate."Slavin, who is a Distinguished Fellow at Washington DC's Stimson Institute, mocked many of the assertions by Pres. Trump and cabinet members like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that Tehran was about to cave. She and Cobban also surveyed the still-spreading consequences of the war for the West Asia region, the global economy, and also  the U.S. political system.This conversation is the seventh in JWE's ongoing "Iran Crisis" series, which is a follow-on to the "Gaza, and the World" project that we launched in Fall 2025. The multimedia records of all the conversations i

In this March 4 convo with Helena Cobban, the veteran U.S. diplomatist Amb. Chas W. Freeman, Jr.  assessed Iran's objectives in the defensive war it is now waging in response to the massive Israeli-U.S. aggression of February 28, and its likelihood of achieving them.He also assessed a range of other topics including the impact that Iran's actions is having on economies around the world; the policies adopted by various European government; the possible and likely impact of the war on U.S. domestic politics; and the effects the Israeli-U.S. aggression is having on global institutions.This conversation is the sixth in JWE's ongoing "Iran Crisis" series, which is a follow-on to the "Gaza, and the World" project that we launched in Fall 2025. Tomorrow (March 5) we will round out this week's offerings with a convo with the Iranian-affairs expert Barbara Slavin.Check back at our website www.justworldeducational.org for updates  on other upcoming episodes.Support the show

In this March 3 convo with Helena Cobban, JWE's board member the veteran analyst and thinker Rami G. Khouri discussed the sizeable impact that Iran's response to the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression is already having on Arab Gulf states, the broader region of West Asia-- and the world. The two agreed that Iran's resilience and its ability to inflict real pain on the aggressors and  other actors worldwide are both notable, and started to place these factors in their deep historical contextThis conversation is the fifth in JWE's ongoing "Iran Crisis" series, which is follow-on to the "Gaza, and the World" project that we launched in Fall 2025. New episodes are being released at Noon ET on each week-day in both video and audio format. Here is the schedule of guests who are already confirmed for the rest of this week:March 4 ~ Amb. Chas FreemanMarch 5 ~ Barbara SlavinCheck back at our website www.justworldeducational.org for updates  on other upcoming episodes.Support the sho

In this March 2 convo with Helena Cobban, strategic analyst Elijah Magnier assessed the impact that the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran has been having within the Gulf region, in the rest of West Asia, and worldwide. His main conclusions were that the survival and the demonstrated, continuing competence of Iran's military and other governing structures already constitute a significant achievement and that the U.S.-Israeli aggressors can expect no quick or clean victory.Magnier explored the significant differences between the goals that Pres. Trump and PM Netanyahu hope to achieve in the war. While both men are using this war for their own electoral purposes, Trump doesn't necessarily seek the destruction. of Iran's central governance capabilities, while for Netanyahu that is a much more central goal.This conversation is the fourth in JWE's ongoing "Iran Crisis" series, which is follow-on to the "Gaza, and the World" project that we launched in Fall 2025. This new s

In this convo conducted late on February 26, Helena's guest was Ray McGovern, a long-time peace activist, and before that a high-level Soviet-affairs analyst for the CIA. McGovern shared the reasons why, for some time now, he has thought Pres. Trump is very unlikely to launch the much-touted (and much-feared) aggression against Iran.  He also shared his analysis of the role Russian Pres. Putin plays in the background of the Iran crisis, the declining strength of Israeli leverage over Trump, and more.This conversation was the third in Part 2 of Just World Ed's ongoing "Gaza & the World" project, which is tracking the still-simmering crisis between the United States and Iran. You can learn about the contents of the first two eps, and get the links to their respective video and audio files, here: Elijah Magnier, Bill Quandt.New eps in this series are being released at 1 pm ET on each of the following days in both video and audio format. Here are the guests who're already confirmed fo

In this February 26 convo, JWE President Helena Cobban and the veteran Middle East (West Asia) specialist Bill Quandt dissected the perils of Pres. Trump's decisionmaking chaos. They surveyed the possibly catastrophic costs of any eruption of war; explored some possible non-military exits from the crisis; and looked at both the in-region dynamics of the crisis and the possible divergence of U.S. and Israeli preferences regarding it.This conversation was the second in Part 2 of Just World Ed's ongoing "Gaza & the World" project, which is tracking the still-simmering crisis between the United States and Iran. The first ep was a conversation with Elijah Magnier. Find details and multimedia links to that, here.New eps in this series are being released at 1 pm ET on each of the following days in both video and audio format. Here are the guests who're already confirmed for the coming week:Feb. 27 ~ Ray McGovernMarch 2 ~ Trita ParsiMarch 4 ~ Amb. Chas FreemanMarch 5 ~ Barbara SlavinCheck

In this February 25 convo, JWE President Helena Cobban and the  strategic analyst Elijah Magnier explored issues raised in Magnier's crucial recent article "The Countdown Between Tehran and Washington: Ultimatum, Escalation, and the Brink of War".This conversation inaugurated Part 2 of Just World Ed's ongoing "Gaza & the World" project, which is tracking developments in the still-simmering crisis between the United States and Iran-- a crisis that is a direct part of (and extension of) the still continuing U.S.-Israeli assault against Gaza.This very timely Part 2 of the "Gaza & the World" project will be quite fast-paced, with new episodes being released at 1 pm ET each day in both video and audio format. Here is the schedule of guests who are already confirmed for the coming week:Feb. 26 ~ Bill QuandtFeb. 27 ~ Ray McGovernMarch 2 ~ Trita ParsiMarch 4 ~ Amb. Chas FreemanCheck back at our website www.justworldeducational.org for information on other upcoming episo

On February 2, 2026 (U.S. Pacific Time), JWE President Helena Cobban conducted this wide-ranging conversation with the European strategic analyst Elijah J. Magnier. They discussed principally the points he'd raised in his Feb. 1 blog post "Why Washington Flaunts Naval Power When the Real War Architecture Lies Elsewhere". Other relevant recent writings of Elijah's are this, from Jan. 30, and this, from Jan. 28.Support the show

Helena Cobban, President of Just World Educational, reads her January 24,  2026 newsletter that examined major political developments affecting Gaza, Iran, and the United Nations. She described Donald Trump’s launch of a new body called the Board of Peace and said it appeared designed to sideline the UN. She detailed Jared Kushner’s proposed plan for Gaza, which envisioned population concentration zones, a coastal tourism strip, and an industrial zone along the armistice line. However, she questioned who could impose a settlement where Israel had failed. She also addressed Trump’s renewed pressure on Iran, warnings of a possible US Israeli assault, and the impact of decades of US sanctions. She called those sanctions a form of terrorism. She reflected on European resistance to Trump’s Board of Peace and urged a stronger defense of the UN, especially UNRWA. She closed with updates from Just World Educational and calls to engage with its work. List of links mentioned in the talk: The Globalities writing platfor

This episode was the third in our timely 3-part series "Venezuela in Washington’s Crosshairs: Breaking the Information Blockade," which is co-hosted by Just World Ed's Helena Cobban and Roger Harris of Task Force on the Americas. The series is presented by these two organizations and co-sponsored by the U.S. Peace Council, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, and the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition.This episode featured: Michelle Ellner, of CodePinkDan Kovalik, international human-rights lawyer and authorAjamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace.Ms. Ellner, a Venezuelan American, gave us some vivid descriptions of the effects the U.S. military attack of January 3 and Washington's many other hostile actions have had on her family members and colleagues back home in Venezuela. She spoke of the extreme importance of breaking the "information blockade" regarding Venezuela that nearly all the Western corporate media have engaged in.Mr. Kovalik described the many ways in which U.S. action

This episode was the second in our timely 3-part series "Venezuela in Washington’s Crosshairs: Breaking the Information Blockade," which is co-hosted by Just World Ed's Helena Cobban and Roger Harris of Task Force on the Americas. The series is presented by these two organizations and co-sponsored by the U.S. Peace Council, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, and the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition.This episode featured: Jesús Rodríguez-Espinosa, the Editor of the Orinoco Tribune and a former Venezuelan diplomat; Richard Falk, professor of international law and former UN special rapporteur for Palestine (also, a board member of Just World Ed); andCorinna Mullin, a leaders in the US Peace Council and the Anti-imperialist Scholars Collective.Mr. Rodríguez Espinoza spoke with us from Venezuela and described the widespread networks of Bolivárian solidarity that provide resilience for Venezuelan society under the onslaught from U.S. imperialism. He stressed that internal cohesion and international partner